State officials say they may buy and preserve Cypress Gardens, the closed historic theme park that served as the backdrop for several Esther Williams movies during its prime. Gov. Jeb Bush directed state officials to meet with park owner Bill Reynolds to discuss acquisition of the 67-year-old attraction through the Florida Forever program, which was established to conserve environmentally sensitive land.
BUSH PRAISED Cypress Gardens as historically significant last week, but refused to say whether the state should get involved in preserving the 200-acre attraction, which opened its gates for the last time Sunday.
“If people aren’t coming, perhaps they’re not coming for a reason,” Bush said.
Reynolds has said he would consider reopening the park with government assistance, but he was certain it has seen its final day under the current management structure. A message left at Cypress Gardens was not immediately returned.
InsertArt(1867976)Built in the middle of a marsh, the park opened as a showplace for 8,000 varieties of plants from more than 90 countries.
In 1938, electric boats began gliding through the tropical canals.
Movies filmed at Cypress Gardens included Williams’ “Easy to Love” and “On an Island With You” and the Betty Grable movie “Moon Over Miami.”
It had 1.5 million visitors in 1963, but competitors such as Walt Disney World, which opened in 1971, cut into business.
Its attendance figures dwindled to several hundred thousand annually, compared to 14 million last year at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
Cypress Gardens never recovered from the tourism drop after the Sept. 11 attacks, officials said.
And the fear of travel generated by the war in Iraq worsened the situation.© 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
